Some of you may have seen on Facebook that a lot has changed for me in the last six weeks, so it’s time for a blog post to keep you all up to date! As some of you may know, I am graduating in October with my doctorate in psychology. Hard to believe this blog started five years ago when I started my program. I never thought I would be at the end of this long road all those years ago. With my program coming to an end, I’ve been job searching since February. It’s been an exhausting several months. After a great deal of thought and hard decisions I am so pleased to announce I accepted at job at the University of Tennessee! I’ll be staying here in Knoxville for the long haul and moving from intern to staff psychologist starting in August! Go Vols!
After accepting the job I headed home to celebrate with the family over Memorial Day weekend. It was good to get away and it was the first time being home since Christmas. Memorial Day Monday meant it was time to head back to Knoxville and get back to work. I got about 3 hours from home, just outside of Paducah, Kentucky when I was rear ended on the interstate. I was stopped in traffic when a car hit me from behind at about 70 mph and pushed me into the car in front of me. As you can imagine, my car was totaled and I had some pretty significant bruising. At the end of the day, I am very lucky that it wasn’t far worse and nothing is broken. Not going to lie, the first week and a half was very rough. Imagine your whole body feeling as if it was run over. It’s been about a month since the accident and the bruises are healing and physical therapy is helping with the stiffness and pain. I am so thankful to all of those who have helped me through this process. I couldn’t have made it through these last several weeks without you.
As far as I know they are okay as well.While the accident was scary and I would never wish that on anyone, a few exciting things have come as a result. My computer was bent in half and the screen shattered, so that means a new laptop for me! And probably most exciting, I have a new car! I’m driving a Hyundai Santa Fe Sport. So if you see me around, give me a wave.
If all of this were not enough, I recently traveled back to Chicago to defend my dissertation. For those of you who don’t know what this entails, I have been working on my dissertation for roughly 2.5 years. As a requirement of my doctoral program, I had to design, conduct, and write up a research study. This is an incredibly time intensive project that is considered the culmination of one’s doctoral program. I am happy to say that I passed my oral defense and was so pleased to be addressed as Dr. Baker by my dissertation committee members. With 2.5 weeks of internship left I am so close to completing my degree I can taste it! I couldn’t be more excited.
With all this exciting, and difficult, change I have a lot to be thankful for and a lot to celebrate. And I plan on doing just that. My sister, Victoria, and I are headed to Ireland for 12 days in mid-July to celebrate all the excitement, including her graduating with her doctorate in physical therapy! It’s going to be the trip of a lifetime and I couldn’t be more excited to close this chapter of my life with my first trip to Europe. With all that has happened in the last six weeks, I’m excited to see what the next phase of life will bring!
Comments